Just how was Florida more ready?

[spinbaby]

I'm noticing in the news coverage of Wilma that one line that keeps coming up is something like, "Unlike the gulf states, Florida was prepared for a hurricane." And then they go on to reveal that most people didn't evacuate the Keys and that many Floridians had run out of drinking water already.

[Jawja]

1. I don't live in Florida,

but I imagine it's because they have had several hurricanes over the last two seasons. After Andrew, Ivan,Dennis, Frances, Jeanne, etc. etc. etc., I guess that Florida is indeed more prepared than States who do not have them on a regular basis.

When I was a child, we ran away from Hurricane Cleo during our annual Florida vacation.

Just guessing that Florida is "been there, done that" kind of thing.

[Neil Lisst]

15. It's bull, a cover story for the right in rewriting Katrina history

see, Florida good, Louisiana bad ...

therefore, George isn't to blame


rightwing logic

[bryant69]

17. I don't buy this

I mean that's the right wing story, sure, but Florida gets hit pretty regularly by Hurricanes, so it stands to reason we would be somewhat parepared.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com
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[Lochloosa]

2. We pay attention here....

at least native Floridians do.

[KG]

3. they weren't any more prepared. it just another example of media

repeating what a gov't official told them to say.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. We're not

Jeb is full of shit.

A couple of big differences, is one we don't flood like they did in New Orleans and the areas that do flood drain themselves within a couple of days.

Second, we have never attempted to evacuate an entire major city. Even in Miami the rule of thumb used to be if you live east of US 1 you should evacuate, if your live to the west of US 1 you don't have to.

Once the storm has passed, most people are left to their own devices and the Feds and FEMA are of little help.

[rodeodance]

7. I have a brother in South Beach who had a wall blown out. He has so

far been left to his own divices as you say.

[Neil Lisst]

5. it's the official Bushie line ... if Florida is good, it's Blanco's fault

that Louisiana suffered.

It's not logic, it's the never ending process of rewriting history the rightwing media engage in.

[spinbaby]

8. That's what I suspect

Florida wasn't more ready, they just had a lesser disaster. And now they're trying to boost Jeb's image while smearing LA officials. It really bothers me that all the news stations seem to be repeating this line--even CBS and NPR.

[rodeodance]

6. I have heard a lot of 'communication' problems in getting supplies into

areas that need them.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

9. I heard that line too

and I think it is very low to point that out (low of the newscasters, I mean) and it might not really even be true.

I think there might be one big difference, altho I can only speak about it from the Florida end. In Tallahassee there is an EOC, Emergency Op Center, and I know a bit about it because my husband is a ham operator and often spends the night there during storms. The EOC has an area set aside for every agency, such as FEMA, EPA, etc. This is a weather-proof, even nuclear-proof facility and it is the nerve center during storms. I think it centralizes all decision making. When Jeb Bush is interviewed about storms he is often over there at the EOC. This facility/concept WAY preceeded Jeb Bush. I am under the impression that LA didn't have such a centralized place, or that it was in N.O. and inaccessible.

[KharmaTrain]

10. How Many Hurricanes Have Hit Florida In The Past 2 Years?

IIRC 4 went through last year and either 4 or 5 have rolled through this year. You'd figure by now there'd be some kind of system in place.

Louisiana gets hit maybe once a decade and hadn't really seen a storm of this size since Betsy and Camille over 35 years ago. The responses from both states reflected on their own history.

Plus Jebbie knows the corporate media focuses in on these storms and a good response makes him look good nationally.

Wilma really caught Southern Florida by surprise. Not just how powerful it was when it came through, but how it came through. Most preparations were for a storm to roll in off the Atlantic, this one came up the backside...the winds and rain were stronger in the "safe" inland areas as it was on the east coast.

[Mend]

11. we are in Collier County and we don't see any help....

power is out everywhere (and we are told for 1-2 weeks), trees are down everywhere and each person and family is clearing up as best as he/she can. I don't see any road crews, no one from FPL, the only cops are at intersections on US 41 directing traffic. We are lucky we have phone and water and with a generator, it is doable but all the officials did was tell us to get out, which we and our neighbors didn't, without regret, and now nothing much is going on except what we do for ourselves.

[wildwww2]

12. Florida was just ready for more of Jeb Bu$h`s propaganda. The damage

from this hurricane is massive. I am out here in Loxahatchee and alot of people did not even board up their houses. As I posted on another thread. When I went to Royal Palm yesterday (tuesday) to get more Ice and food. I saw at least 25 telephone/powerpoles broke in half. Some of them had powerlines still on the ground. And we did not see even one FPL truck out doing work. But the Winn Dixie had ice and powdered milk for the kids. (They were running on emergency power generators I`m sure.} Only the emergency lights in the store were working. And the cash registers. Cash or check only. The lines for gas were very long. Luckily I had filled up before the hurricane. And I have some gas out here on the property if I need it. Not everyone is as lucky as us I can tell you. We got our power back last night after being out of power for 37 hours. I still think it is because of some FPL big wig that lives on the same power grid as us.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[KaryninMiami]

13. We were verbally prepared but not physically.

We're still on "all hurricane all the time" t.v. here so you get to really hear some of the stories of people who waited in line for 8 hours for water and ice, only to find there was no ice due to "communications failure" since they were communicating by cell phone. Guess the "cell phones don't work durring hurricanes" lesson from New Orleans never made it to here.

I just heard on the news that hundreds are lined up already for ice and water but the distribution sites are nowhere near ready. They are also lining up at gas stations without even knowing if they will open up today.

People are not getting much help in general and are fending for themselves. Over and over there are terrible stories of how people are waiting for MREs (food), FEMA, water, ice, gas, etc.

It appears that local relief efforts have things a bit more together then in NO but when they need to rely on outside sources (National Agencies such as FEMA and the National Guard), things are not at all organized or working as they should. But rememver, Wilma was not as devistating as Katrina. Had this been any stronger, my guess is things here would be exactly the same as they were in New Orleans. Remember also that Katrina was a wind AND flood storm and we did not have flooding (except some minor areas which will soon be back to normal)


There's lots of damage- don't get me wrong. Millions are still without power, homes and businesses were completely destroyed, windows were blown out of thousands of highrise buildings, debris is everywhere, huge trees were uprooted, cars and trucks moved by the wind and there is much work to do before things get close to normal again. But the difference is that for the most part, things can be repaired here - it will just take a very long time. The structures are still there (for the most part) whereas NO was more like after Andrew when it looked like a nuclear wasteland.

[Mizmoon]

14. I don't think the damage was nearly as severe in Florida

I don't mean to insult the Floridians, but their cities ARE still there. Tattered, but there.

N.O. was wiped off the map, essentially.

[lectrobyte]

16. Wilma, category 2 vs. Katrina, category 4. Luck more than "readiness"

I think.

[Zynx]

18. Wilma was a three at landfall.

[lectrobyte]

19. Sorry. I got the impression from what coverage I was watching that

Wilma was smaller and less severe.

[Zynx]

20. Less severe than Katrina certainly, but a nasty hurricane nonetheless.